The introduction of NIL at the collegiate level has changed the NBA Draft in potentially irreversible ways. It's taken time for those alterations to manifest, but the 2025 annual selection process is beginning to reveal how drastically the Association will be impacted—and how the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves ahead of the curve.

According to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, 106 players have entered the 2025 NBA Draft—the lowest number of early entrants since 2015.

It's difficult to to evaluate this fact without acknowledging the impact of NIL. For those unfamiliar, NIL stands for Name, Image, and Likeness. The system has enabled college athletes to profit from those very elements of their individual presence, success, and, quite frankly, existence.

Many have debated whether NIL is beneficial to the institutions that long exclusively profited from their athletes' success, but the bottom line is that players are now being paid for what they provide.

The results of that shift in the college landscape have included players realizing that it can be profitable to remain in school rather than declaring for the NBA Draft before they're ready. Pre-draft evaluations can now be utilized to gauge how likely it is that a prospect is valued in a way that justifies the risk that comes with making the leap.

Thankfully for Los Angeles, Rob Pelinka and company have made a habit out of adding talent that most have overlooked.

Los Angeles has made something of an art out of scouting and acquiring players who most overlooked. An argument could be made that the most recent example was Dalton Knecht, who fell to the Lakers at No. 17 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft because he was a 23-year-old incoming rookie.

Knecht went on to lead all Lakers reserves in points and three-point field goals made on both a per game and per-36 basis during his rookie season.

Los Angeles' success has ranged beyond the first round, including the acquisition of undrafted free agents. That process arguably began when the Lakers added a former undrafted free agent and four-year college basketball player in 2017 by the name of Alex Caruso.

Caruso would go on to play a key defensive role as the Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship and has now earned two All-Defense honors during his career.

The current and shining example of Los Angeles' success in drafting the players others chose to overlook is Austin Reaves. Reaves was a 23-year-old incoming rookie who spent five seasons at the collegiate level, splitting the time between Wichita State and Oklahoma.

Four years later, Reaves is widely regarded as one of the most promising up-and-coming talents in the NBA, boosted by his 2024-25 averages of 20.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.

Los Angeles has kicked itself for failing to lock up other players long-term, but still deserves credit for uncovering undrafted gems such as Jay Huff and Scotty Pippen Jr. in recent years. That success lends itself to the Lakers thriving in this new NBA environment.

Acing the NBA Draft now means knowing where to look off the beaten path—and few franchises are better at doing so than the Lakers.